10 Tips To Save Water During California’s Drought

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® EveryDrop™.

2015 has been a tough year for California.  Scientists say California has not been this dry in 500 years.  We are in the fourth year of a severe drought with temperatures so high and precipitation so low that rain and snow evaporate almost as soon as they hit the ground.

In April, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown ordered the state’s first mandatory water cuts in metropolitan areas.  Since that day, my local water district has told us that we have reduce our overall water usage by 24% or we will be fined.  Thankfully, my family has successfully met this goal, plus some.

Water companies across the state are also raising water rates on consumers.  My father who lives in Northern California said that his water rates are expected to go up 300%.  And my mother-n-law who resides in Southern California said her water rates have already gone up 140%.  This is catch twenty-two!  Californians are required to use less water, yet we get charged a horrendous fee when we do use any water.  I don’t get it!

Since April, when the mandatory water cuts went into effect, my family has strive to use less and less water.  It is hard, but we are succeeding.  Our water bill has gone down about 20% since we implemented the following 10 Tips To Conserve Water During California’s Drought.

1. Use a self-contained gardening system.

During the summer, I like to grow a garden.  However, before I use to plant to the vegetables in the grown, but I never knew exactly how much water they needed   The beauty of a self-contained gardening system is that it has a built-in watering system.  The water reservoir is in the bottom, and there is a vertical pipe that extends above the soil so you can add water.  Therefore, I can not over water the plants with this system, and in fact I simply fill it to the top of the watering tube and forget about it.

2. Save cold water for indoor plants.

When I wait for the bath water to warm up, I like to save the first trickles of cold water in a bowl, and use it to water my indoor plants.

3. Use a dish pan in your sink.

Before the drought, I use to wash my dishes one by one as the day went on.  Now in the morning, I fill up a dish pan with soap and water, and let me my dishes soak in the pan all day long, until I wash them at night.  No more running water in the sink!

4. Use the same drinking cup all day long.

My kids use the same cup all day long.  That way I only clean one cup per child per day.  Less dishes means less water.

5. Choose appliances that are more water efficient.

Three years ago, when we bought our new house, my husband and I upgraded our appliances to be more energy and water efficient.  That decision alone cut our water bill by a third.

6. Replace your shower head with an ultra-low-flow version.

When you switch out your old shower head with a low flow water saving shower head, your savings is simply the difference in the flow rates.  For example, by selecting a new 2.0 low-flow shower head you will save 20% water usage.

7. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing food waste.

Running the garbage disposal requires a lot of water to operate properly.  Instead, start a compost pile (you can easily purchase a composting system online) and teach your family how to recycle their food.

8. Set your sprinklers on a water schedule.

My in-laws are only allowed to water their lawn on Tuesday and Thursday.  So they have adjusted their sprinklers to only water on these particular days.  And if they decide to water on any other day they will be fined.  Therefore, it is just better to play it safe and adjust your sprinklers, or you may be sorry.

9. Raise the lawn mower blade to at least three inches or to its highest level.

During the drought our family tends to mow less.  But when we do, my husband uses a higher cut which encourages grassroots to grow deeper, shades the root system, and holds soil moisture.

10. Use Scotts® EveryDrop™ on your lawn and landscape.

Prior to the drought, when we planted our lawn, we used Scotts® products to seed and fertilize it.  They work like a charm!  Now with California’s mandatory water cutbacks, we have also started to use the new Scotts® EveryDrop™ line, which makes the most of our available water.  Scotts® EveryDrop™ line is designed to move more water into the soil consistently and evenly.  This helps to reduce wasteful runoff.

Scotts® EveryDrop™ line works on both lawns and landscapes, even in dry, hard-to-wet soils.  The key ingredient is a wetting agent, otherwise known as a surfactant, that reduces the surface tension of a liquid and enables the water to spread out and not bead up.

By using Scotts® EveryDrop™ our family can expect to use 25 percent less water on our lawn, which results in a lower water bill.  Chi ching!

EveryDrop™ is now available in at your local Home Depot, Lowe’s and Orchard Hardware Supply.

Do you have any drought saving tips to share?  If so, please share them in the comment section below.  The more we learn how to conserve water together, the better!